Key Points:
- The right plan is crucial.
- Turn it into a hobby.
- When you throw food away, that’s like throwing money away.
How to Save Money on Food
Budgeting and saving money sucks. It’s much easier to just go about your day buying what you want when you want it.
Eating what you want, when you want it. Drinking what you want, when you want it. It’s much easier to harness your inner Cartman with a little “I do what I want!” However, that will not get you to your health, wealth, and life goals. You have to have a little direction.
Saving on food isn’t the hard part. Consistently saving money on food is where it gets tricky. Always passing up on all the extras you don’t need and won’t help you towards your health goals is challenging. Doing it for a week is easy.
Doing it when you’re stressed, celebrating, or just sick of sticking to the plan is where the rubber meets the road. Below are some ways that you can save money on food.
Don’t Grocery Shop When You’re Hungry
This one will get you every time. If you go into the store hungry, you’re bound to break and pick up stuff that doesn’t fit the plan. “Oh, I haven’t had ice cream in a while.” Don’t do it! You’re only hurting yourself by going to the store hungry. Eat a healthy snack before you go.
Plan Your Meals
This is a winner in all categories health, wealth, and lifestyle. “He who fails to plan is planning to fail.” Man, I love a good quote!
It’s simple, plan out your meals for the week. By doing so, you’ll save time, money, and you’ll stay on track with your health goals. Your meals will set your shopping list, so there’s no question about what you’re getting at the store. You know what you have each day, so you won’t stray by eating out. You can make the meals ahead, which helps avoid a stray off the plan.
Plan Your Meals Around What’s on Sale
It’s easy to eat the same thing every week but let’s be honest, that gets old. It gets old, and it’s a surefire way to start cheating. Get creative and make new things. Once you have a wide array of options, you can start meal planning around what’s on sale at the store.
Start a Garden
This is a tricky one. It’s very easy to make this an expensive hobby. However, you can have plenty of vegetables throughout the summer.
If you do it right, you’ll be able to can veggies to last you through the winter.
Don’t Buy Junk Food
Not only is junk food wasted calories, but it’s a waste of the budget. You gotta live, so have your cheat options but try to keep these to a minimum.
Cook in Bulk
I’m not talking about cooking a ton of something and eating the same thing all week. You can cook in bulk, separate, and freeze for easy meals in the future.
It’s common to not feel like cooking or have the time. This can lead to food delivery services. Avoid this with easy meals ready to go in your house.
Limit Meals at Restaurants
This is an obvious one. It’s a fortune to eat out.
Especially if you’re ordering drinks. The more you do it, the more your budget will get blown. Again, you gotta live but plan your meals and have them within the budget.
You don’t have to eat out for lunch at work. Pack the lunch!
Drink Water
Most of us don’t drink enough water. We’re made up of about 60% water and need to stay hydrated. Drinking water has several benefits: natural appetite suppressant, increases calorie burning, helps remove waste from the body, and it’s necessary to burn fat.
Eat Leftovers
The world has a huge food waste problem. Over 130 billion lbs of food are wasted annually in the United States. This food waste creates several issues.
However, that’s a different article for a separate blog. We’re concerned with the wasted money in your budget that throwing away food costs you.
Follow the old hunter’s adage, if you kill it, you eat it. In your world, if you buy it, cook it. If you cook it, eat it. It’s as simple as that. Waste not want not.
Eat Less Meat
Aside from the endless health benefits of eating less meat, it’s expensive. Especially if you get good cuts. Lean towards a more vegetarian-heavy recipe selection, and you can save money.
Share Meals When Eating Out
This is especially true if you have kids. Depending on the age of your kids, they barely eat or may not even eat at all. They rarely finish a full meal, even off of the kid’s menu.
My wife and I try to get the kids to share a meal every chance we get. Even my wife and I can share meals at some restaurants. Especially if we’re following the 80% rule.
Keurig / Better Yet a One-Time Use Coffee Machine
If you drink coffee at home, you generally don’t need to make a whole pot of coffee. You know you’re pouring out half of that coffee without drinking it. If you drink it all, go ahead and make a whole pot.
But most people aren’t drinking that much coffee. Keurig’s are a great alternative, but they can be expensive and a waste on the environment. One-cup coffee machines are the fix to all of this. Make a cup as you need it, and you’re done.
It’s simple, not easy. Make the plan and turn it into habits. Without the plan, you’ll never make it happen for the long haul.
